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What Happens When Non-Western Voices Enter International Relations? Kautilya and the Politics of Access
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper shifts the focus from the familiar question of why is there no non-Western theory in International Relations (IR) to a process-oriented inquiry of what happens to non-Western perspectives when incorporated into IR? While critical IR scholarship has explored the way ethnocentrism,...
China’s Normative Balancing: Global Security Initiative and Middle East Security Architecture
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
This article examines China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) as a soft balancing strategy, specifically in the form of normative balancing. It employs a qualitative approach based on data collected from the official website of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as secondary sources...
Crossing the ‘Global South Frontier’: Mapping Latin American Presence in International Relations Publications
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
Despite increasing calls to globalise and pluralise the field, International Relations (IR) remains dominated by institutions based in the Global North. This paper engages with the theme of exclusion with access by complementing ongoing critiques of the discipline’s epistemic hierarchies by...
Navigating Borderlands: Civil Society and Relational Narratives in Georgia’s EU Candidacy
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper investigates how civil society organisations (CSOs) navigate and reshape geopolitical narratives within the European Union’s evolving candidacy framework. By highlighting the performed inclusivity of EU narratives, it offers a nuanced perspective on the socio-political dynamics of...
The Global South as ‘Europe’s Jungle’: A Postcolonial Critique of EU Foreign Policy in a Changing World Order
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
The global world order has been transforming, becoming increasingly less Europe-centred. In this context, the paper critically examines how European Union (EU) foreign policy narratives are structured by the coloniality of power, as conceptualised by Quijano, with a focus on Josep Borrell’s...
The Terrorist Spectacle Revisited: Assemblages of Terror from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to the Islamic State
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 3
Abstract
This article employs the assemblage thinking to further the debates on the nature of terrorist spectacle. The spectacular nature of terrorism – inducing shock on the wide part of the public – is widely regarded as one of the defining traits which distinguish it from other forms of political...
‘Global Transformation’: Chinese Scholars Debate the International System in the Aftermath of the War in Ukraine (2022–2024)
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 2
Abstract
This article explores discussions among Chinese International Relations scholars on the effects of the war in Ukraine. While official Chinese foreign policy rhetoric is often vaguely centred around obscure slogans, scholarly debates can be used as a ‘proxy measure’ to gain insights on the prevailing...
Unravelling Indonesia’s Failure to Implement the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA)
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 2
Abstract
In 1975, Indonesia initiated oil and gas cooperation, leading to the establishment of the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) in 1976. Then, the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA) was created to improve petroleum security and minimise the impact of emergencies experienced by ASEAN Member...
Interwoven Resilience: Non-State Actors and Formal Institutions in Ukraine’s Urban War Effort
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 2
Abstract
This article explores the perceptions of an interplay between formal and informal institutions in sustaining Ukraine’s defence and governance during the full-scale Russian invasion. Focusing on three cities—Vinnytsia, Mykolayiv and Sumy—it examines how civil society organisations, business...
Examining Contending Explanatory Models of Nuclear Proliferation: Theoretical and Policy Implications
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 2
Abstract
This study examines major theoretical models that seek to explain states’ pursuit of nuclear weapons programmes and decisions to abandon them. A comparative historical analysis of multiple case studies suggests that the traditional ‘security’ model cannot be supplanted by Scott Sagan’s challenger...
Measuring Central and Eastern European Countries’ Responses to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 1
Abstract
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which started in February 2022, led to various (often confrontational) reactions of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to Russia. The article measures the variety of responsive foreign and defence policies of CEE countries in the first twelve...
The Role of the European Parliament in EU Foreign Policy: Parliamentary Diplomacy and the Development of the EuroNest Inter-Parliamentary Assembly
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 1
Abstract
This article examines the role of the European Parliament (EP) in EU foreign policy and parliamentary diplomacy through the lens of the social theory of functionalism. By focusing on the case of the EuroNest Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the study discusses the forms of diplomacy developed...
From New Humanitarianism to Total Defence: Conceptualising a New Dimension of Aid Organisations in Ukraine’s War Effort
Issue:
Volume 19, Issue 1
Abstract
A new wave of organisations, primarily established after February 2022 in response to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, provide aid to civilians while also contributing to Ukraine's military defence. This hybrid set of activities challenges the humanitarian principles of humanity,...
Navigating Geopolitical Shocks: Comparative Strategies of the Visegrád 4 and Indonesia in Global Value Chains
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper explores the influence of geopolitical events on global value chains, particularly focusing on the Visegrád 4 countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and Indonesia. The objective is to analyse how these semi-peripheral nations, which are more susceptible to geopolitical...
Slovakia-Taiwan Relations: Slovakia's Pragmatic Approach as a Model of Engagement with Taiwan
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
This article examines the evolution of Slovakia-Taiwan relations, focusing on the early 2020s (specifically 2020–2023), a period marked by a shift toward closer ties. Despite adhering to the One China policy, Slovakia has strengthened its engagement with Taiwan, driven by both regional and...
The Growing Relations between India and the Baltic States in a New Geopolitical Environment
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
The Baltic states, positioned as a conduit between Eastern and Western Europe, possess considerable geopolitical importance for numerous nations globally, including India. India views the Baltic states as a strategic entry point to Western and Northern Europe, offering significant opportunities...
India’s Beckoning of Central Europe amid Shifting Geopolitics
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
For a long time, countries in Central Europe (CE) were caught in the structural rivalry of East and West, and Indian policy towards the region too remained passive. The end of the Cold War preoccupied India and the CE region alike, focusing on their economic transformation and recalibrating...
Hungary’s Relations with the BRICS in the Context of the Changing World Order
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
The paper aims to analyse Hungary’s evolving foreign policy in a changing world order since the politico-economic regime change of the early 1990s, but with the main focus on relations with the member states of the BRICS group since the initiation of Hungary’s ‘Global Opening’ policy in 2011....
The ‘Geographical Here’ and the Pursuit of Ontological Security: Spheres of Influence Narratives and Great Power Identity in Times of Threatened Status
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
This article explains why self-identified great powers seek to provide a ‘sphere of influence meaning’ to geographical space when such narratives have the potential to insult the smaller actors in the space over which such powers seek exclusive influence. The article draws and expands on the...
Can China’s Developmental Peace Be an Alternative to Liberal Peace? A Critical Feminist Interrogation
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
A growing body of literature within international relations (IR) has attempted to understand China’s approach to peacebuilding, so-called developmental peace, mostly in relation to critiques of liberal peace. The literature shares an assumption that developmental peace is distinct from liberal...
The Three Seas Initiative and Romania’s Grand Behaviour in the Black Sea Area: Change and Continuity
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 3
Abstract
Drawing on classical realism, the article investigates whether the Three Seas Initiative (3SI), just like the other subregional projects that Romania took part in since joining NATO in 2004, has been part of Romania’s external balancing towards Russia. In contrast to the 1990s, when the Black...
The EU’s Approach to Sanctions on Russia: A Critical Analysis of the Existing Literature
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 3
Abstract
This article focuses on the EU's sanctions against Russia, which were adopted in several rounds after Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. This article reviews and critically examines the existing academic works on this topic. In particular, it identifies, distinguishes...
Conventional Arms Control Agreements in Europe: Conditions of Success and Failure
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 3
Abstract
Under what conditions are adversarial conventional arms control agreements (CAC) in Europe successful or unsuccessful? This study aims to identify the conjunctural causes of conventional arms control success in Europe from the end of World War One to the present based on a dataset of 22 cases....
Geopolitical Positioning of a Small State: Serbia in the Shadow of Yugoslavia’s ‘Third Way’
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 2
Abstract
This article examines Serbia’s positioning in the East-West axis during the post-Cold War era. This is a specific example of the ‘third way’ in twenty-first century geopolitical behaviour. The small country remains non-aligned within the existing alliances of the East and the West, trying to...
Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd: Tripolarity and War
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 2
Abstract
International systems of three great powers, tripolar systems, remain an understudied topic. In this article, I make three claims about tripolarity. First, it is more warlike than either bipolarity or multipolarity. Second, the two weaker poles of a tripolar system usually ally against the...
EU’s External Action and Russia: How Can Institutionalisation Affect Decision Making?
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 1
Abstract
The independent role of international institutions has been taken to be the core of the debate between institutionalists and realists. This study explores the EU’s relations with Russia in two cases as a testbed for this debate. Institutional independence, meaning restriction on the ambitions...
Half-Hearted or Pragmatic? Explaining EU Strategic Autonomy and the European Defence Fund through Institutional Dynamics
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 1
Abstract
In 2016, the EU Global Strategy introduced the ambition of strategic autonomy referring to the ability to autonomously protect the Union against external threats. To realise this ambition, the EU also launched various capability development initiatives, in particular the European Defence Fund...
Terrorism Financing Typologies: Comparison of the PKK and ISIL in Turkey
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 1
Abstract
This comparative case study investigates the financing typologies of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Turkey. The PKK is a Marxist-Leninist organisation that pursues ethnic separationist policies in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. ISIL is a radical...
The Institutionalisation of Security Norms in the Context of Cyber Alignments: The Transatlantic Alignment in the Cyber Domain
Issue:
2024 - Volume 18, Issue 2
Abstract
Realists argue that security alliances are established to confront military threats posed by one state to others. In contrast, this study argues that nonmilitary cyberthreats have become a factor in establishing new security arrangements that do not necessarily take the form of an alliance,...
Western Orientalism Targeting Eastern Europe: An Emerging Research Programme
Issue:
2023 - Volume 17, Issue 4
Abstract
This article discusses pre-existing studies of Euro-Orientalism (Orientalism directed at Eastern Europe), and advocates for further study of the inequal relationship between Europe's West and East. In this sense, this article should help to overview and advance the study this phenomenon. A...